Chapter 98: Sending Flowers: Harboring Ulterior Motives

Duke Rui’s Mansion, Linzhu Courtyard.

In the height of summer, the bamboo leaves were a deep, almost black green, their outlines casting a naturally perfect painting on the courtyard wall. But Zhichun couldn’t appreciate it.

Busy figures ruined the ambiance.

Zhichun carried a broom, sweeping the fallen leaves into a corner.

“Aqin, when do you think the Heir Apparent will return?” Zhichun wiped the sweat from her forehead, looked up at the sky, and counted on her fingers. “In two more days, it will be the death anniversary of the old master and the eldest miss. At the latest… she should make it back tomorrow?”

“Probably.” Aqin, who was wiping the windows, replied offhandedly.

“How are you not worried at all?” Zhichun detected her casual tone, planted her hands on her hips, and disapproved. “The Heir Apparent is the sky over Linzhu Courtyard. If anything happens to her, we won’t know where we’ll end up.”

“What could happen to the Heir Apparent?”

Zhichun furrowed her brows and shook her head at her.

Seeing Zhichun’s serious expression, Aqin thought there might be something she hadn’t considered and immediately grew tense. “Is someone plotting against the Heir Apparent? But with the Jinwu Guards escorting her… and Young Master Yan traveling together—she has the most military achievements in Great Yong—”

“It’s precisely because she’s there!”

Aqin’s suspended heart dropped instantly, and she rolled her eyes, no longer wanting to engage.

“You wouldn’t understand.” Zhichun propped the broom against the wall, hurried up the steps, and analyzed confidently. “Yan Yiqing has been harboring ulterior motives toward the Heir Apparent for a long time. This time… she’ll definitely use the opportunity to seduce her!”

“But she’s the Heir Consort.”

The chattering sparrows fell silent for a moment before quickly retorting, “She still held a knife to the Heir Apparent’s throat before!”

“You’re the one saying she’s seducing her, and you’re the one saying she held a knife to her. That’s totally contradictory.”

“She’s the contradictory one.” Zhichun crossed her arms, recalling her interactions with Yan Yiqing, and suddenly noticed something off. “She often stares straight at the Heir Apparent, and she even told me the Heir Apparent is her beloved. Why would she tell me that?”

“I don’t know. It’s not like she expects you to help her. Everyone knows you’re the most loyal to the Heir Apparent.”

Those flowers—

Could they be part of her scheme!

Zhichun swallowed, a flicker of guilt flashing in her almond-shaped eyes. “Of course. I wouldn’t take her bribes.”

“You’ve already betrayed the Heir Apparent?!” Aqin whipped around.

The flowers were given to me; I just passed them to the study… Besides, the Heir Apparent liked them too. And! How could novels count as bribes…

Having lived and eaten together for years, they could read each other’s thoughts with a single glance.

“Tell me quickly—what did she make you do?!” Aqin pressed, fearing her friend had been used by someone with ill intentions.

“Oh, it’s really nothing…”

Aqin’s shook her arm. “Tell me already!”

“Maybe I was overthinking it. Those flowers were originally for me, but there were too many… so I took them to the study…” As Zhichun twisted her fingers and tried to defend herself further, Aqin suddenly interrupted:

“Who?”

Zhichun huffed and lifted her head. “Are you even listening?”

Seeing Aqin bow toward her from behind, Zhichun swallowed hard, suddenly realizing—that voice hadn’t been Aqin’s.

Two days of nonstop travel had left traces on her face.

Her eyelids were faintly shadowed in pale blue, her lips slightly dry.

Her figure was even thinner than when she had left, a few strands of hair hanging by her cheeks, her skin made sickly pale by the dark locks, as if she had suffered some grievance outside.

“Heir Apparent.” Zhichun lowered her head, her forehead nearly touching her shoes.

“The one who sent the flowers—who was it?”

Her voice, like cold jade, was still melodious, but Zhichun bit her lip and couldn’t utter a word for a long time.

A maidservant like her who betrayed her master would surely be thrown out of the mansion.

Wuwuwu…

She would never accept Yan Yiqing’s flowers again.

Zhao Huairen didn’t press further but glanced sideways. “Aqin’s.”

The moment Zhao Huairen looked at her, the hairs on Aqin’s back stood on end. Her friendship with Zhichun held her for two breaths, no more. “R-replying to the Heir Apparent… the one who sent the flowers that Zhichun mentioned… is the Heir Consort.”

The Heir Consort was Qingqing.

The silent air made Zhichun’s heart a tangled mess. With a “thud,” she dropped to her knees, tears pattering down. Before Zhao Huairen could even question her, she confessed her crime. “This servant knows her mistake. I didn’t expect her to be so scheming, wuwuwu… Those flowers were all given to this servant by Yan Yiqing…”

So—

Peonies, lilies, snow willows… all from Qingqing.

She still remembered her envy of Zhichun. So… the fragments of sweetness and the sour bitterness intertwined in her heart, forming a knot that couldn’t be untied or severed.

But how much Qingqing liked her.

It also showed how important that person was.

“This servant will never accept her flowers again, Heir Apparent… wuwuwu…” Zhichun shuffled forward on her knees to Zhao Huairen’s side, wiped her tears, and sobbed. “Yan Yiqing has ulterior motives toward the Heir Apparent. This servant should have told you sooner… This servant was blinded by lard…”

“Ulterior motives?”

Zhichun nodded vigorously, lifting her face. “Yan Yiqing said the Heir Apparent is her beloved. She said it herself. This servant can swear on her life.”

Her thin lips pressed into a pale line.

Her brows knitted tightly, unwilling to say another word.

Having served Zhao Huairen for so many years, Zhichun rarely saw such an expression on her face. Her own face turned ashen. Just as she was about to kowtow, she spotted Zhuyu standing behind her and cried out, “Sister Zhuyu! I didn’t mean to. I didn’t expect she’d use me…”

Zhuyu merely shook her head at her plea for help.

The one person who could plead for her.

Did even she… think she was beyond saving?

“Heir Apparent… wuwuwu…” Someone lightly kicked her knee. Zhichun paused her breathing and looked up at Zhao Huairen.

“Get up.”

As if she hadn’t understood, Zhichun blinked and didn’t rise immediately.

“What, do you need me to help you up?” Zhao Huairen said helplessly.

Am I not dreaming!?

The charge… was brushed aside just like that?

Zhichun didn’t dare act rashly. She sneaked a glance at Zhuyu, who nodded, before carefully standing.

Not steady yet, she hurried to pledge loyalty. “Heir Apparent, this servant will never accept Yan Yiqing’s—”

“Qing… Young Master Yan likes hearing people call her by her official title.”

“Yes!” Zhichun didn’t know why Zhao Huairen suddenly mentioned it, but she obeyed instantly. “This servant won’t accept Young Master Yan’s flowers anymore. She won’t use me again.”

“It’s just some flowers.” Zhao Huairen’s fingers unconsciously gripped her sleeve. She licked her lips, a faint red tinting her ear tips, unnoticed by others, and said lightly, “It’s nothing significant. Just accept them as usual.”

“But she wants to sedu—” Zhuyu’s hand shook like a blur. Zhichun sensed the danger, lowered her head. “Accept them as usual. This servant understands.”

Zhao Huairen lowered her gaze. “Prepare water. I need to bathe and change.”

–

The cold jade, dusted clean.

In an instant, it regained its former luster.

“After Ningfu Residence, I need to enter the palace.” Zhao Huairen picked up her neatly folded official robe. Seeing Zhuyu rise, she said mildly, “You’ve been traveling hard for two days too. There’s nothing major this time in the palace. Stay in the mansion and rest.”

Zhuyu shook her head and didn’t sit.

They had both traveled hard for two days.

If the Heir Apparent didn’t rest, why should she?

“The principle of conserving energy,” Zhao Huairen said to Zhuyu while adjusting her collar in the bronze mirror, “shouldn’t… need me to repeat, right?”

Zhuyu’s eyes flickered slightly, but in the end, she turned and left the study.

The door closed carefully behind her.

Soon, only one person’s presence lingered in the room.

Zhao Huairen stared at her reflection, clenched her fist, and her gaze gradually darkened.

…

Half an incense stick later, Ningfu Residence.

“Heir Apparent, please wait. This servant will go inform the lady.” The maid guarding the courtyard bowed upon seeing her and headed toward the main room.

With the death anniversary approaching.

The sandalwood incense grew thicker.

“Madam, the Heir Apparent has come to pay respects.”

Wang Jinlan’s bead-turning paused for a moment. She looked up at Mama Zhang. “She’s been back in the mansion for half a shichen, and only now comes to pay respects.”

“Exhausted from the journey, the Heir Apparent didn’t come to the main residence first, likely not wanting Madam to worry upon seeing her.” Mama Zhang turned to Yu Qiu by the door. “Yu Qiu, quickly invite the Heir Apparent in.”

“Yes.” Yu Qiu acknowledged.

“You needn’t comfort me. I know she doesn’t want to see me.”

Mama Zhang reassured her, “Everyone in Yanjing knows the Heir Apparent is the most filial. Madam is overthinking.”

Wang Jinlan opened her mouth but said nothing in the end.

Sunlight streamed through the half-open window, falling on the table and tracing the path of the blue smoke, twisted and scattered.

Footsteps approached, one after the other.

For some reason, the air in the room slowly solidified.

“Mother.” Zhao Huairen crossed the threshold, walked steadily to stand before Wang Jinlan, and bowed.

“You’re back. Good.”

Wang Jinlan’s voice echoed like from a dry well—words of concern, but a close listen revealed no warmth at all. Hollow and raspy, like from a soulless shell.

She had once thrown stones into that dry well.

Even tried to introduce flowing water again.

But like an endless valley, no matter what she did, there was no response. Gradually, Zhao Huairen grew accustomed to her mother’s coldness.

“As long as Mother is well, I’m relieved.” Zhao Huairen’s long lashes lowered slightly, her light brown eyes calm and unwavering, her voice mild. “I still need to enter the palace to face His Majesty. Since Mother is fine, I won’t disturb you further.”

“I heard from your uncle that you handled things well in Yumu County this time,” Wang Jinlan said.

At the mention of “uncle,”

Zhao Huairen’s gaze turned icy in an instant.